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1942 wd co/b


Carruthers

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I bought this bike about 5 years ago. It was mostly complete; the only big item missing was the rear carrier. It had been hand painted green, badly. On the plus side, the frame was straight, the tank was good and it had the correct speedo, Lucas 4 position headlamp switch etc. The forks would need re-bushing etcand it would be no 'winter project', but i reckoned i could make an almost completely original bike with what i had.

I didn't run, although it turned over with a dreadful clunk! I've had enough bikes to know what this meant, and knowing RE's plain big end bearing didn't help, but the price reflected the condition and I knew the whole machine would have to come apart. As most of you may know, RE made a batch of COs with the burman gearbox hence the B designation. There were only 3000 made to contract C13870 which was delivered in Sept 1942. The bike has matching frame and engine numbers and the contract info states the start number for frame and census number so I'll be able to work out the tank number it actually had when it left the factory, which will be cool.

 

This machine has undergone a full restoration using all original Royal Enfield parts on the engine. Every component nicely sandblasted, primed and re-sprayed to match the mid-war brown found on the inside of the chaincase and brake plates. I sourced the RE stamped piston/rings/con rod plus valve/springs from John Phelan and elected for a roller race version for the bottom end bearing. On dismantling the engine the total failure was obvious with debris everywhere and ultimately I found the oil feed pipe to the big end missing! Some genius had just replaced the oil feed plug with the pipe left off, and obviously hoped it would drip a further 1" or so to the big end. Scrap one engine!

After many many hours cleaning it internally, etc and having the crank split, rebuilt etc, honed for new piston, plus new valves/guides/springs it's all together again. Gearbox stripped and starter quardrant replaced plus some bearings. Mag/dyno (dated 3/43) stripped and several missing bits added so it will work now! New clutch plates, all new cables, wheel bearings, head bearings, wiring harness, brake shoes replaced and hubs skimmed, forks rebuilt with new bushes and spindles, tyres and hundreds a small items it's getting there. I should say that I'll spend any time cleaning up an original nut and bolt instead of just fitting a new one, and actual repro parts currently stand at front foot rest bar, one rear foot rest mounting plate and the tail light. Finished in mid-war brown to match the paint found inside the chain case and brake plates, it should as near to the factory condition as I can make it.

here#s some pix- more to follow if you're interested. Simon

comp lhs.jpg

engine cu front.jpg

wd co JAN 12 (10) (Custom).jpg

wd co JAN 12 (18) (Custom).jpg

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Nice bike , just one question about the front mudguard , wyhave some a rib in the middle and others are plain like the rear ones ?

I also got a co , but am still on the search for a decent saddle cover , most I have seen are bad (cheap)reproductions .

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You are doing a nice job of the Enfield, please keep us posted. I have several bikes (WW11) inc a Harley Davidson WLC 1943.......... but my favourite riding bike has to be the Royal Enfield WD. CO only 350cc, but accelerates and sounds great.

Enfield Restoration 008.jpg

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Nice bike , just one question about the front mudguard , wyhave some a rib in the middle and others are plain like the rear ones ?

I also got a co , but am still on the search for a decent saddle cover , most I have seen are bad (cheap)reproductions .

 

Late-war CO's lost the ribbed 'guards as part of the economising and expediting of production..........

 

The CO/B is pleasant to ride....the Burman gearbox, if a little clunky, is reliable, easy to service, and parts are available.....

 

Personally, I always prefered the standard Enfield Albion 'box, that has a lovely neat gearchange.....but nothing wrong with a decent Burman either.....

 

R K Leighton still the best source for saddle covers....but nobody manages to match the WD Terry or Lycett originals in rexine.....very well made, and still fitted to TRW's and surviving M20s & G3L's during the 1960s.......these were still available NOS into the early 80s (being supplied in a large cardboard box similar to a family-size pizza), and I managed to source mine through patience over 5 years......you may still be lucky !

Edited by wdbikemad
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Nice bike , just one question about the front mudguard , wyhave some a rib in the middle and others are plain like the rear ones ?

I also got a co , but am still on the search for a decent saddle cover , most I have seen are bad (cheap)reproductions .

 

Hi Maurice.Wdbikemad got there first, as is correct of course. I think the changeover year was '43.

 

I put up some more pix later.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]56741[/ATTACH] You are doing a nice job of the Enfield, please keep us posted. I have several bikes (WW11) inc a Harley Davidson WLC 1943.......... but my favourite riding bike has to be the Royal Enfield WD. CO only 350cc, but accelerates and sounds great.

 

Thanks Ray, You RE looks very nice mate!! Ta for the pic. I've got a pair of economy rear panniers which don't have the D loops or the slotted quadrants on each side to support the bottom tray. I have one of the economy webb bags which at first looks like a large pack has different dimensions and metal tabs to locate in the bottom tray...

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi Simon,

Do you mind if I ask you where you got the paint from, hopefully going to start my CO project soon.

 

Rick

 

Hi Rick,

 

I originaly bought some of this colour from jeeparts but they no longer keep it. however their supplier is Firwood Paints in Bolton and i've used them for other WD usage colours and they're very good. Their number is 01204 525231. Ref is BS499

their code is 4430 Service brown.

Bad news is you have to buy 5 litres!

Or I suppose get some mixed to BS499 somewhere else. ALso, it doesn't like being brushed, but I'm assuming you'd be spray finishing anyway.

Hope this helps

 

Simon

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Hi Rick,

 

I originaly bought some of this colour from jeeparts but they no longer keep it. however their supplier is Firwood Paints in Bolton and i've used them for other WD usage colours and they're very good. Their number is 01204 525231. Ref is BS499

their code is 4430 Service brown.

Bad news is you have to buy 5 litres!

Or I suppose get some mixed to BS499 somewhere else. ALso, it doesn't like being brushed, but I'm assuming you'd be spray finishing anyway.

Hope this helps

 

Simon

 

Firwood paints are intended for spraying, whereas Cromadex (in Birmingham) can be brushed and sprayed.......Jeeparts used to offer both versions.......

 

I love Enfield's.......20,000 miles on a WD/C during the early 1990s as my daily transport to work at a sedate 45mph....:-D

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Hi gents,

 

There appear to be a few WDCO ohv owners about Can you put your collective heads together and see if you can answers some of my questions

 

I am rebuilding my engine following a big end failure and have had the floating bush big end replaced with a roller bearing by Alpha. The original flywheel thrust bearings are too thick to allow the cases to bolt up with them installed. Hitchcocks only have 84 thou thick ones. Which I may have ground down does anyone have a source of others of different thicknesses.

 

I have 2 engines one a 1940 and the other which was fitted in the bike is 1942. There are several differnces.

 

The 1940 motor has an oil tank breather channel through the rear of the crankcases venting just in front of the gearbox

 

The 1940 motor has an oil feed to the timing side bush which isnt present on the 1942 one

 

On the 1940 motor The oil feed down the centre of the oil pump drive worm into the centre of the timing drive shaft is a larger diameter.

 

The style of the camshaft pinions is also different and the cams look to have different profiles

 

Any info welcome

 

Regards

Centurion

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Careful with Enfields ! Remember, the WD/CO did not appear until 1942 so you cannot have a 1940 WD/CO engine......BUT, you can have a non-WD pre-42 CO engine !!! Around 1940-41, Enfield modified the WD/C engine to incorporate an additional oil filter in the timing cover......prior to this, the oiling system was simpler, that also affected other Enfield engines of the period.....

 

One of the Pitmans or Pearsons handbooks on Enfields of the era mention that some WD/C engines have a revised crankcase breather arrangement.....apparently those with sealed crankcase vents being intended for desert use....hmmmmm....but, the book also notes that a different oil filler cap is used depending on which crankcase arrangement you have....basically one with and one without a breather hole...........obviously, rather important to employ the right one.....:-D

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thanks for that, here is some info relating to both,I made an error in relation to the date of No 2

 

No1.

 

ENGINE NUMBER 3900 ROYAL ENFIELD WD/CO 350CC OHV FROM CONTRACT C/11081, ORDERED 15/2/40 A QUANTITY OF 5000 COMPLETED ORDER BY 22/10/41 1053 DESPATCHED TO TEWKESBURY DEPOT WITH THE REMAINDER GOING TO CHILWELL.

 

this engine has the vented oil tank with the vent exiting the rear of the crankcases and no breather hole in the oil filler

 

 

No2 (engine number 15419) must have been assembled around September 1943

20314)

15419 (LH side below Magdyno)

C/S1546 (LH side)

 

Can you advise which way the open end of roller bearing cages face on the drive side main bearing , toward the flywheel or towards the cases, or does the outer race face towards the case and the inner face towards the flywheel.

 

Regards

Centurion

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thanks for that, here is some info relating to both,I made an error in relation to the date of No 2

 

No1.

 

ENGINE NUMBER 3900 ROYAL ENFIELD WD/CO 350CC OHV FROM CONTRACT C/11081, ORDERED 15/2/40 A QUANTITY OF 5000 COMPLETED ORDER BY 22/10/41 1053 DESPATCHED TO TEWKESBURY DEPOT WITH THE REMAINDER GOING TO CHILWELL.

 

this engine has the vented oil tank with the vent exiting the rear of the crankcases and no breather hole in the oil filler

 

 

No2 (engine number 15419) must have been assembled around September 1943

20314)

15419 (LH side below Magdyno)

C/S1546 (LH side)

 

Can you advise which way the open end of roller bearing cages face on the drive side main bearing , toward the flywheel or towards the cases, or does the outer race face towards the case and the inner face towards the flywheel.

 

Regards

Centurion

 

The first engine is from the first WD/CO contract, but delivery not commencing until 1942......the serial numbers allocated to this contract begin with "C460****" which were generally issued sequentially against contracts by this point in the war........my 16H Norton has a "C439****" serial number with the contract demanded during 1940 but delivery not really getting underway until very late that year and mine probably built during Feb to Mar 41............and my Ariel W/NG has a "C469****" serial number and factory records actually confirm its build-date of April 12th 1942 !!! Parts list was published for the first WD/CO contract during May 1942........

 

The problem with many wartime contract details (as listed in my book) is we published all the conflicting information from various official publications, but, in reality, due to wartime demands and circumstances, they are frequently way off the actual dates of supply........!!! Was it right to publish the specified wartime official intentions or the actual production dates....??? Food for thought......:D

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The first engine is from the first WD/CO contract, but delivery not commencing until 1942......the serial numbers allocated to this contract begin with "C460****" which were generally issued sequentially against contracts by this point in the war........my 16H Norton has a "C439****" serial number with the contract demanded during 1940 but delivery not really getting underway until very late that year and mine probably built during Feb to Mar 41............and my Ariel W/NG has a "C469****" serial number and factory records actually confirm its build-date of April 12th 1942 !!! Parts list was published for the first WD/CO contract during May 1942........

 

The problem with many wartime contract details (as listed in my book) is we published all the conflicting information from various official publications, but, in reality, due to wartime demands and circumstances, they are frequently way off the actual dates of supply........!!! Was it right to publish the specified wartime official intentions or the actual production dates....??? Food for thought......:D

 

I might also add that WD serial numbers, although sequential by 1941-42, were allocated in blocks by the RAOC......so, a block of numbers allocated to, say a 2000 bike motorcycle contract might well be followed by a block for trailers, 15cwt trucks, plant equipment, ambulances, then more bikes.........the only difference being the preceding letter code, eg "C" for bikes, "A" for ambulances, etc........and some manufacturers, such as Triumph, Matchless, etc, in some cases used serial number blocks originally allocated a year or two earlier to them, but for a variety of reasons not actually used until much later.........such are the circumstances of war !

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